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Nagaland for review of border pact

By The Assam Tribune

KOHIMA, May 31 � The Nagaland government has mooted the idea of reviewing the 1972 boundary agreement with Assam and also constituting a joint coordination committee of all North Eastern states to resolve the boundary disputes, reports PTI.

�There is a need to review the 1972 agreement between Assam and Nagaland,� newly inducted Parliamentary Secretary for Border Affairs, N Thomas Lotha said. He said the �one-sided agreement� had become a tool for the Assam government to strengthen their forces along the border, while Nagaland was relegated to a �helpless position�, Lotha told reporters yesterday in Dimapur.

He said there was no logic in deploying neutral forces like CRPF manning the border areas as they were acting directly under command of an IGP of the Assam Police.

As the pact was not acceptable to the Nagas, he said, �A fresh agreement acceptable to both Assam and Nagaland should be inked to settle the boundary dispute. Then there would be no need for neutral forces to man the boundary areas.� Stating that the border issue was not confined to Assam and Nagaland only, but also to other tribal states bordering Assam, he said there was a need to discuss and take the �common border issue� to a higher level.

The Parliamentary Secretary said his department would invite the opinions of other tribal states bordering Assam.

He stressed the need for a joint coordination committee with all the North Eastern states to resolve the border disputes, especially with Assam.

Lotha said a coordination meeting involving the district administration and forest and land revenue departments, along with village councils of border areas would be convened to chalk out strategies to protect the interest of the state�s boundary.

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